Where's the Beef!?

amazingflapjack

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Hi Y'all - we are looking for alternatives to the grocery store for our beef-especially steaks. Wouldn't mind try'n some grass fed stuff, but don't know... Could be home delivery-internet-what ever. I'm in north central, Fl. so something local would be great, we're just tired of tough, tasteless, overpriced steaks. Appreciate the collective wisdom of the Beef Eaters of the forum, thanks, Flapjack.
 
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Omaha steaks we use as Christmas gifts, but having tried them personally they are pretty good. Might want to try buffalo as they are very tasty and supposedly better for you. I've had buffalo bergers at Ruby Tuesday's and they were great but then I like spam. Frank
 
My local IGA supermarket has been doing a sale on Porterhouse steak for $3.99 a pound . For this area that is a great price and they are very good done on the grill. They also have been doing a sale on pork Baby back ribs for $2.99 a pound so I've stocked up my freezer with both. A friend has a son that raises Herford cattle that he butchers and sells to fancy resturaunts .He has been asked if he has grass fed beef but will only raise one to order as he say's he likes to grain them at the end before he butchers as it gives the meat better marbleing and flavor.
 
Most of my beef purchases have been from Sam's Club. I buy the large packs, break them down to meal size portions (wife and I can only eat one steak), and use my Food Saver vacuum sealer to freeze the rest.

'Back in the day' (60's), my parents would occasionally purchase a beef quarter. But there were seven of us to feed.
 
One of the reasons I'd probably never move to the Sunshine state is the lack of good food. Can find good biscuits & gravy and maybe barbeque , but that's it. And I don't eat seafood of anyform!

Here in PA , we have fresh local bakery's and deli's of every ethnic persuasion , farmers markets and butcher shops. I have 3 bison farms within 10mi that sell fresh and frozen buffalo as well as grass fed beefalo and black angus cuts.

Don't forget the scrapple!
 
Do you have a large 'farmer's market' set up in your area? We've got a good one, and there are two vendors that supply a good selection of grass fed/organic beef and chicken products. Taste is so much better than the huge corporate 'farm' junk.

Like so many things these days, you really have to search around to find quality.
 
95% of my beef and about 1/2 of my chicken comes from a small Kosher butcher. I pay a bit more but I know what I'm getting. He will cut or prep anything I want while I wait. I've never been disappointed.

I'm led to believe there are a few Kosher butchers in Florida!
 
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Find yourself a high quality local organic supplier in your area. It definitely is a little more expensive, but you won't be sorry.
Dmar is correct... the difference in quality and taste is vast.
 
To find good beef in your area will require a little leg work on your part. If you can find a Kosher Butcher you should be good. You have to follow very strict guidelines in product handling and quality to be certified as Kosher. There are three good old school butcher shops and one Kosher Butcher in my area that will cut their meats to the customer specs and they also offer aged Prime Beef.
 
I get ALL of my beef from cows. It just tastes better.
When I want a nice steak, I'll use out local butcher who always has top flight meat. Problem these days is they are raising everything so lean -they've literally processed all the flavor out of it. Witness pork. I defy you to find ANY marbling in the stuff in the stores these days.
As far as beef-I'm a rib eye man. I'll but one great big one and I'll eat the outer ring and let my wife eat the inside-we're both happy!
 
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Hi Y'all - we are looking for alternatives to the grocery store for our beef-especially steaks. Wouldn't mind try'n some grass fed stuff, but don't know... Could be home delivery-internet-what ever. I'm in north central, Fl. so something local would be great, we're just tired of tough, tasteless, overpriced steaks. Appreciate the collective wisdom of the Beef Eaters of the forum, thanks, Flapjack.

Costco usually has very good beef. My local Costco even has USDA PRIME beef, if you care to steop up to that level and price point.

Best,
Gary
 
Hi Y'all - we are looking for alternatives to the grocery store for our beef-especially steaks. Wouldn't mind try'n some grass fed stuff, but don't know... Could be home delivery-internet-what ever. I'm in north central, Fl. so something local would be great, we're just tired of tough, tasteless, overpriced steaks. Appreciate the collective wisdom of the Beef Eaters of the forum, thanks, Flapjack.

With all the Florida crackers, I hear some still use their whips, down there you might be able to find a local farm that sell their meats. Nothing like farm fresh beef. Try the local farmers market and sometimes the farmers will have a list of meats they sell. Internet Omaha or Schwan's

I just grilled a mess of chuck-eyes earlier tonight. It's the piece between the chuck roast and the rib eye. They were $4.99 a pound while everything else was ten bucks or more. It's one of the scarcest parts of the steer and not everybody carries them. Good stuff.

Around here they are cheap, flavorful, and tender and most people don't know what they are, they think because they have chuck name that they are tough unless cooked for a long time like a chuck roast. Chuck eye is my favorite I will buy it before anything else.

After rereading my post I thought I might put a disclaimer here, "Florida cracker" is what they would call the cattle framers in Florida, nothing racist here and nothing implied to any ethnic group of people. internet definition "Florida Cracker" used to refer exclusively to Florida Cowboys. Just don't want to get a slap on the wrist and sorry if anyone didn't know the phrase and got their feeling's hurt.
 
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Hi Guys-here is what we have found, and will check out-hopefully STARTING TOMORROW. Oh boy-sorry about caps lock! There is a kosher meat market close by, and a large Flea Market-Markets of Marion-not to far from here. We'll see-thanks to everyone for their input. Flapjack.
 
Around these parts we have meat markets where you can order a whole beef, a half beef a front quarter or a hind quarter and have it butchered up any way you want it. You can tell them how thick you want the steaks, how much of it and what parts you want in ground beef, etc.

This is actually cheaper in the long run than buying packaged beef in super markets but it is a sizable chunk to spend at one time. Still it is a way to get the quality you want.
 

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